case of foreign ammo that I got free

[bender]

dealer said it was 8mm mauser. dealer has gone out of business a while back. I opened one of the plain brown boxes inside the wooden case tonight for the first time. The boxes of ammo are plain, except they say:

7.9 mm METAH M49

I just want to make sure this is actually 8mm mauser ammo I can shoot in my k98

Is it corrosive?

 

[trueblue1776]

Pretty sure the M49 is strictly 8mm Mauser designation, which is sometimes known as 7.9 or 7.92. It's probably kosher, does it chamber? Metah sounds Egyptian or Persian, both Mauser countries in the past.

 

[RNB65]

I found a discussion at the CMP forum indicating that "7.9 mm METAH M49" is Yugoslavian manufactured 8mm Mauser (7.92x57mm). Should work just fine in a K98.

 

[bender]

ok, thanks. I didn't chamber one yet, but I did try my caliper on one and compared it to one of my 8mm cases.... and it was super close. I hope it's non-corrosive. Leaving for the shooting range in about 10 minutes, so I'll see how it shoots. It was free, so I can't complain, anyway...!

 

[jonnyc]

It is Yugoslav, and the word is METAK (cartridge). Better than even chance it's corrosive, so clean accordingly. What is the headstamp?

 

[trueblue1776]

100 to 1 that it's corrosive.

 

[armoredman]

Corrosive.

 

[bender]

dang, I told myself before that I would never buy corrosive ammo. Well, it shot ok this morning. Recoil was way worse than the 8mm reloads I do, also worse than the Wolf Gold I shoot sometimes.

Just cleaned it by running some patches with a good amount of Hoppes 9 thru the bore, then a bunch of dry patches, then some patches with CLP on them, then a couple more dry patches, then another patch with CLP on it, and now back into the safe... is that enough...?

 

[silverlance]

soaked patch with water down bore 6x, then 3x dry patch, then clean as usual. heck if you dont want it ill take it. =)

 

[Justin]

The compounds that cause that ammo to be corrosive are mercuric salts. Hot water will dissolve the salts and wash them away.

Flush the bore with hot water a couple of times, and then clean like normal.

It's slightly more work to clean a gun you've put corrosive ammo through, but it's not some giant nightmare.

 

[LeibstandarteAdH]

Yeah, its for sure the Yugoslavian and 100% corrosive.

 

[Avenger29]

Just cleaned it by running some patches with a good amount of Hoppes 9 thru the bore, then a bunch of dry patches, then some patches with CLP on them, then a couple more dry patches, then another patch with CLP on it, and now back into the safe... is that enough...?

No. You need to flush with water, like Justin said.

 

[goon]

Or you could use Windex or ammonia soaked patches too - they have worked well for me in the past.

 

[LeibstandarteAdH]

I have NEVER seen any part of any of my firearms that i shoot with corrosive ammo (and for my WASR in 5.45x39 thats a LOT) rust after being cleaned with nothing but Hoppes #9, i have never used anything but #9 and then a thicker preserving oil, have not used anything water or ammonia based even once, no rust on any of my guns or gas system parts from using hoppes #9 alone on known corrosive ammo. That being said if i dont clean my 5.45 WASR after shooting the polish surp in it the gas piston/ gas block area will rust the bolt "shut" within 2-3 days inside my A/C'd house if not cleaned with anything. And ive stored them for months after cleaning with just Hoppes #9 then wipe it off and coat with corrosion X and have never had any rust. I shoot a lot of the Yugo M67 ball in my M70's too, never a problem there either. But that will not rust nearly as fast as the polish 5.45 stuff.

 

[bender]

ok, looks like there's some differing opinions on this cleaning issue.

It's slightly more work to clean a gun you've put corrosive ammo through, but it's not some giant nightmare.

to me what you described is a nightmare... lol. Well, maybe not, but I hate making more work for myself. I don't shoot my K98 that much... so I'm tempted to sell the ammo. I consider 8mm an easy caliber to reload, and I have all the reloading equipment for 8mm and plenty of almost new cases.

oh yeah... I should have mentioned the headstamp in the first post. It's nny 1979, at least on the one box I've opened so far. I think I remember asking "is it corrosive" when the dealer offered it to me, and I thought he said no. Oh well.

 

[chris in va]

All you have to do is spray some windex down the bore...hardly 'extra work'.